Ms Mitrofanova also advocated for greater transparency in the work of the advisory bodies: the International Union for Conservation of Nature, (IUCN) the International Council on Monuments and Sites, and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM).

UNESCO: EDUCATION

The International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ICCROM) provides expert advice on conservation and training in restoration techniques.

UNESCO: Thirty-nine properties to be considered for inscription on UNESCO��s World Heritage List | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

In 2007, UNESCO launched a three-year partnership with ICCROM(International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) to assist museums in developing countries with improving their skills for the preventive conservation of collections.

UNESCO: CULTURE

Islam, an architect, is the head of the Urban Study Group, a small band of architects founded in 2004 that are campaigning to save the cultural heritage of Puran Dhaka, the most historic area in the city.

BBC: Saving Dhaka��s heritage

The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization led a study on the impact of illiteracy in Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and the San Pablo State in Brazil.

UNESCO: SERVICE DE PRESSE

This study was commissioned in the framework of the programme "Capacity-building for cultural enterprises in developing countries", which aims to strengthen emerging cultural enterprises in developing countries and render them self-sustainable.

UNESCO: Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity

At the time the Nazca Lines, which span 85 square miles (220 square kilometers), were drawn, "people were not looking at this stuff from the air, they were looking at stuff from the ground level, " said Timothy Ingold, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Aberdeen, who was not involved in the study.

MSN: Peru's mysterious Nazca Lines form a labyrinth, says study

Roy Richard Grinker, a cultural anthropologist at George Washington University and one of the co-authors of the study, said he thinks the study's estimates are "surprising" but he doesn't think they are alarming.

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